Spatial and relational peer effects on environmental behavioral imitation

Jianhua Zhang*, Xiaolong Liu, Dimitris Ballas

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

From a behavioral perspective, this study investigates the impacts of spatial and relational peer effects on shaping individual environmental behaviors. Utilizing microdata from 53,590 residents in the Netherlands, this study explores the spatial heterogeneity of environmental behaviors at the municipal level. Regression results reveal the existence of peer effects on environmental behavioral imitation among both spatially and relationally proximate peers. The roles of social interactions and observations in reinforcing peer effects are highlighted. A key contribution of this study is its inclusion of spatial dimension in understanding environmental behavioral imitation, taking into account both spatial and relational proximity.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)575-599
Number of pages25
JournalEnvironmental Economics and Policy Studies
Volume25
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2023
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, The Author(s).

Keywords

  • Environmental behavioral imitation
  • Observational learning
  • Peer effects
  • Proximity
  • Social interactions

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